Family and Home – Long walks and dark chocolate

Daily Prompt: Shelf

March 18, 2016 Leave a Comment

My eldest, Ashley with Chompers, her first gift from her Nana

The moment I saw Today’s prompt, I knew what I would write about. This is a poem representing the word “shelf”.

I was sitting in Cracker Barrel, with many just like me

Just wondering if I would ever have a home

When as I pondered this, I felt myself airborne

Oh no, please not a child whose left to roam

The torture never ends for us, the bruises and the nicks

Not to mention sticky fingers and the floor

But this time, the touch felt different. Should I dare to harbor hope?

Can it be as Grandpa said? Could there be more?

I stole a glance at my captor’s face, and she returned my smile

She held me out to have a look, to ponder me from afar

She said, “This one is perfect, I knew it from the start

Before I knew it, I’d been purchased and was riding in her car.

Or course I was ecstatic, and couldn’t wait to see my home

She took me to a room all filled with flowers and love

A beautiful, tiny baby slept, a sight she was to see

It was then I knew for sure that I had been blessed from above.

When I was new, my coat did shine, my clothes they were pristine

My eyes were bright and bore no scratches from wear and tear

I was gifted by this Nana to this amazing baby girl

Oh the fun that we would have, the love we’d share

I kept her warm on chilly nights and was always there to hug

As the years flew by, she took me everywhere she went

She grew up fast and stayed so busy, I didn’t see her as much

Though our time together grew less and less, I knew how much I meant

Even though I am old and torn, she has keep me all these years

And she used to pick me up to reminisce,

To think upon our memories, the days and nights of fun

Lately though, I’m afraid she’s grown remiss

So, I’m waiting patiently for the day that she recalls

One more hug will be appreciated, in and of itself

But until then, I’m sitting here just watching everything

Just wishing and just hoping, on the shelf.

Filed Under: Family and Home, Poetry, Uncategorized Tagged With: childhood, Daily Prompt, growing up, poetry, reminiscing, teddy bear

Daily Prompt: Envy

March 16, 2016 1 Comment

Today’s Prompt was to write using the word “Envy”.

Proverbs 14:30 says, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”

When I find myself feeling envious towards another person or something they have, it reminds me that I need to pray. I need to spend time with God and reflect on what has diminished my typical contentment.

Nine times out of ten, I find that it can always be traced back to my perception of lack in “things”, “stuff”, “worldly goods”. The more we allow our focus to be on the material things instead of the lasting things and the heavenly things, the more often we will find ourselves desiring more of them.

We are never satisfied with “stuff”, so it is pointless to put all of our energy and focus into mere things that leave no lasting legacy, things we can’t take with us.

Envy can overcome both the young and the old, but I see it more in the young. I think this is just because they haven’t lived life long enough to realize what really matters. If I could give those younger than me some advice, I would tell them not to be so desirous of a bigger car, a more expensive house, and designer duds. I would tell them to covet a loving, generous heart, a kind and gentle spirit, a forgiving attitude; lasting things; traits that will make living this roller coaster life so much sweeter.

I am thankful for the lessons learned and the avenue to share with others and that is a good thing. Because, I find that the more thankful I am for what I have, the more content I become.

For similar posts, see The Little Foxes or Regrets; I’ve had a few

Filed Under: Family and Home, Inspirational, Uncategorized Tagged With: Daily Prompt, envious, envy, forgiveness, generosity, God, lessons learned

Daily Prompt: Fleeting

March 14, 2016 3 Comments

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Today’s prompt was to use the word fleeting in a post.

This topic reminded me of all the times we are left with a fleeting glance. In many cases, the memories of these momentary glimpses are anything but fleeting.

Mom’s waving hand as you embark on your first ever bus ride

The emotional, yet proud look your mom or dad gives you at graduation

The bob of a little blonde ponytail as it retreats the first day they walk to class alone

Her tail lights the first time she drives away from home with bags packed

The crestfallen little face from the car seat when the visit is over and she has to go home

There are many more memories like this; sometimes romantic and sometimes sentimental. They are good material for stories and poetry and backdrops to some of our most memorable events.

Filed Under: Family and Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: Daily Prompt, fleeting, memories

My rant about nude selfies

March 10, 2016 8 Comments

What you do

The last two daily prompts were to write about the words Object and Legacy, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.

What kind of legacy is this generation leaving to the next when we have “famous” people posting nude selfies on social media which any teenager in this country has access to? Bodies are treated like mere objects to attract attention. I am a woman and I want to be treated like a woman; all of me, for all of my attributes; my personality, my sense of humor, my compassion and gifts of love.

The sidebar on Facebook, you know the one that alerts inquiring minds to what is currently “trending” often makes me cringe. The very word trending implies that these topics are getting the most attention. Sadly, this reminds me that the reality is, the more immoral and depraved the topic, the more attention it gets. Of course, I must say in all fairness that it is possible and even likely that much of the attention towards some of it is negative.

Normally, I prefer not to give a second thought to the subjects that evoke negative thoughts, but what I have noticed over the past couple of days has angered me and I can no longer remain silent. I couldn’t allow fear of the opinions of the “anything goes” crowd to dissuade me.

First and foremost, my number one responsibility as a Christ follower is to pray for the women to whom I allude. I have and I will continue to. Instead of calling names and bashing individuals, I would rather talk about the behavior.

With all that said, what compels someone to stand in front of a mirror, nude and take a selfie to be posted to social media for the entire world to see? Is it vanity, an uncontrollable desire for attention, a publicity stunt? Maybe it’s a combination of all of those things. And do others imitate “in support” because they truly care about the first offender, or because they are jumping at the chance for self-promotion or attention as well?

Of course, and I’m speaking generally here, we as a nation are at fault because if we didn’t create the demand, it wouldn’t be supplied. We watch it, we buy the books and magazines and upload the songs and then wonder why morality is at an all time low.

What does it say about us as a nation and as a generation of women who tolerate and at times agree with such ludicrous behavior? I think many of us have become fearful to speak out against it because we can rest assured that we will be attacked, deemed judgmental and called fanatical conservatives.

If you really care about other women, why would you help to cultivate a mindset that promotes the belief that we are just sexual objects? What about the girls, and women who have self-image problems; the ones who don’t have unlimited resources and a personal chef? You send a message that isn’t realistic or responsible.

Unless we buy more time at a plastic surgeons office, our looks will fade. We need to focus on the qualities that remain; the qualities that actually increase as we grow in wisdom and experience. Ask yourself if you are growing in goodness and mercy, in kindness and compassion. Are you increasing in discernment and empathy?

It’s not just the fact that as a Christian, I see my body as the temple of the Holy Spirit; it’s the fact that as a woman, wife and mother, I want to be a feminine woman of dignity.

Ladies and gentlemen, please stop lining the pockets of people who are sending this type of message to the masses. Let’s teach our young women to have self-respect and to be women of honor. We can be part of the solution. We can help influence this generation of impressionable young woman in a more virtuous direction, a direction that won’t leave them dying (sometimes literally) to fit a standard that isn’t real.

We were created in the image of God and for His glory; now that’s a standard to live up to.

Blessings!

P.S. This isn’t my typical post and I sincerely hope my words are received as intended; from a woman who is very grieved with the trend towards depravity in society and truly hopes and prays for change.

Filed Under: Family and Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: Daily Prompt, immorality, selfie

Lessons from a mockingbird

March 9, 2016 1 Comment

You may have read some of my other posts where I talk about how God always teaches me little lessons or shows me things if I just pay attention to His creation.

My husband and I, now that we are getting older, love to watch the various birds that frequent our back yard. Since he is a fishing guide, the pelicans follow him home, but his favorite is a little blue heron that comes to visit every afternoon. If the little guy is fortunate, he gets scraps as the fish get cleaned.

My preference though are the cardinals. Since they live here year round, I always keep food in their feeder. There are several pairs that live in the dense mangroves across the creek from us, so you can find them almost any time of day near the feeder in the winter and spring. In summer, it seems like they are a little more elusive. I am sure the intense heat has something to do with that.

Recently, I have become acquainted with (the best I can anyway) with a fat little mockingbird. She sits on our fence or atop the stalks of red berries on our Christmas palm tree. The photo below only shows one stalk and there are currently four on this tree and two on the tree in our front yard. My point being, she has plenty.

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She pecks at the berries until one falls to the ground and then she quickly grabs it and runs into a more sheltered area with it. She constantly watches for other birds and chases mostly black birds and mourning doves away all day long. They aren’t allowed to land within about a five foot perimeter of “her” tree. Don’t tell me it isn’t fun to bird watch, although my youngest teases me about the pleasure I derive from my birds.

Anyway, to get to my lesson. The other day, as you can see in the video above, she had her berry and was enjoying a feast. If you look closely you can see a cardinal hiding in the bush behind her and a black bird walks by behind it. The cardinal and the black bird are merely after the bird feeder which is to the left of the greedy little mockingbird. They do not appear to be remotely interested in her berries and they don’t eat them when she isn’t around.

However, you can see in the video at the very end, she chases them away. She wastes effort getting stressed, and chasing them away from what is hers. She covets her berry and thinks everyone wants what she has. She misinterprets their motive and gets it all wrong. Can you see the lesson? Aren’t we like that sometimes? We think everyone wants what is ours and we get in defensive mode and get our blood pressure up for naught. And for what? There were enough berries for everyone and no one else was interested in them anyway.

I love God’s little lessons in nature and I love to watch His glorious creatures living out their roles in His magnificent creation.

Filed Under: Family and Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: birds, cardinals, Creation, lessons from God, mockingbird

Daily Prompt: Inevitable

March 6, 2016 7 Comments

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The Daily Prompt was to use the word “inevitable” in a post.

I look at her tiny little body with it’s protruding little belly, the glow of pending motherhood shining on her face.

Wasn’t it just yesterday, I sat in this same living room with her dad in domestic bliss ooing and ahhing over her gymnastic abilities already apparent as my swollen belly jumped and heaved with her somersaults?

In a mere matter of a couple of months, my baby will bring her baby into this world. My blonde smiling, whimsical cherub will be a mother.

But I guess it was inevitable.

Filed Under: Family and Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: babies, Daily Prompt, daughter, moher, mother daughter love

Daily Prompt: Secret

March 1, 2016 2 Comments

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Today’s Daily Prompt was to write a post in response to the word secret.

Do you promise not to tell? Of course, I promise, I won’t tell a living soul.

How many times have you been told that only to have your dirty laundry or even your clean but private laundry shared all over town? Why is it so difficult for people to keep a secret?

We love to know things and we also love to tell them.

There is something that makes us feel special when a secret is finally revealed and we can say with a big grin on our face, “Oh yes, I already knew that.” This gives us the feeling that we were special enough to know it before others and I guess that’s true, unless there is a significant reason for your knowing.

Although I am pretty special, I had to keep a secret for my daughter recently and it was only to ensure that her friends and I could pull off the party and buy the appropriate supplies.

She made me keep a secret that was a tough one; the gender of her baby, who will arrive in June. A few years ago I had never heard of a gender reveal party. Now, they are THE trendy thing to do. Creative people all over the world have figured out unique ways to reveal their secret. We just did the pink candy in the middle of a cake, but I recently saw photos on Facebook of someone shooting pink paint balls and another where blue confetti burst out of a piñata.

Whatever type of secret you’re entrusted with, keep it. Otherwise, you ruin your chances of ever being told another one, and that’s only fair.

“Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:” Proverbs 25:9

Filed Under: Family and Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: Daily Prompt, gender reveal, secret, shhhh

Beacon of love

December 21, 2015 4 Comments

Chocolate peppermint cookies

Scarlett hastily scraped up the last bit of cookie dough as she thought, “Yes, that’s enough for one more cookie”. Plopping the last gooey bit on the cookie sheet, she licked her fingers, and then silently wondered if the minuscule amount of raw egg she had ingested contained Salmonella. “Oh well, it’s too late to worry about it now”, she mused. She opened the oven door, slid the pan in and set the timer.

Now, she only had to wait approximately 15 minutes, for delicious chewy goodness. That left plenty of time to address the remaining Christmas cards and perhaps wrap one more gift. She was looking forward to sitting down to watch a Christmas movie, with a plate full of cookies and a cold glass of milk. But first, as soon as the cookies came out of the oven, she was running a nice warm bubble bath. Tonight she would relax; tonight was about her.

“Scarlett, honey, are you home?” Mrs. Avery’s warbled voice pierced the silence at that moment reminding Scarlett of an old worn record that had reached the end of play and needed to be removed from the turn table. Oh no, not tonight. Scarlett seriously considered remaining silent, hiding in her bedroom. She could wait there for Mrs. Avery to turn her support hose ridden little legs planted firmly in their reliable, built-for-comfort loafers, back towards home. Mrs. Avery was patient tonight though. That crazy feline fur ball of hers must be loose again and Scarlett was in no mood to go looking for her.

Scarlett figured she might as well get whatever it was over with so she could resume her night of relaxation. As she opened the door, she noticed that Mrs. Avery’s grey hair was all she could see sticking up from behind the stack of beautiful packages she carried. They were brightly adorned in Christmas wrappings with festive pinecones and sprigs of holly instead of bows. Scarlett immediately felt regretful for her earlier ill-mannered decision to delay answering the door. She had unknowingly caused a frail woman of 83 to stand outside under the weight of this colorful burden.

“Come in, please. Let me help you with those packages. Where are you going with all of this?” asked Scarlett. “Oh, they are all for you my dear. I probably went a bit overboard wrapping mostly food stuff, but I wanted to bless you”, replied Mrs. Avery. “Go ahead and open them up as they will need to be refrigerated.”

As Scarlett opened boxes containing homemade meals, complete with desserts her eyes filled with tears. “You did all of this, just for me?” she asked. “Well, I see you getting home after work every day and most nights you have to rush right back off for class. I know you don’t eat right because I see you cleaning out the fast food bags from your car. I thought the best gift I could give you was the gift of time, so I prepared a couple of weeks’ worth of meals so you will to be able to just relax and enjoy yourself when you do finally get home. I know your family is far away and you aren’t going to make it home this year. I pray for you every day and I wanted to bless you.”

Scarlett was overwhelmed with shame that she had even considered ignoring this beacon of light. She was also suddenly reminded of what Christmas was all about. She thought about the Christmas plays back at home and her dad reading the Christmas story from the big black bible. Jesus came to give the greatest gift. Scarlett had received that precious gift of salvation as a child, and she was thankful that Mrs. Avery had reminded her about what this season was really all about. She made a mental note to find out what time the Christmas services were at her local church and see if Mrs. Avery had plans.

For now though, the timer was going off on her oven, so she excused herself to remove the cookies. As she returned, she said, “Mrs. Avery, were you doing anything special tonight?” Mrs. Avery smiled and said, “No, I was just going to go home and call a friend and perhaps do some reading or watch that new Christmas movie”.

“That’s great!” said Scarlett. “I have warm cookies, just out of the oven. How about I change into something more comfortable and bring them over and we will watch that movie together?” Mrs. Avery squeezed Scarlett’s hands in both of hers and said, “Yes, come on over, that would be delightful, my dear”.

That night began a new chapter in Scarlett’s life; her friendship with Mrs. Avery continued for many years until her precious friend left this earth to be with Jesus. Scarlett would always remember the tiny little woman, full of life and faith and love and she would always try to be “Mrs. Avery” to someone.

Filed Under: Christian, Family and Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: God

The Old Green Truck

December 14, 2015 1 Comment

Deer, Big Cypress

My post from yesterday made me begin to ponder pride and I thought about other times that mine has caused me to feel bad or to make others feel bad (or both). This brought to mind an old green truck.

As I have mentioned before my dad was a commercial fisherman and stone crabber for most of my childhood. It was seasonal; there were some times of feast or famine and I even remember once when my stay-at-home mom had to get a part-time job to help out when Dad suffered with a ruptured disc in his back. I think Dad’s pride hurt more than his back did then as mom had never worked, but that’s another story.

This story stars an ugly old green truck with multiple compartments on the sides. I don’t remember where my dad got it or why, but I hated it. It was the ugliest old truck I had ever seen in my life.

Dad worked hard, but on the days he got home early enough, one of his favorite things to do was to load his family up and go for an early evening ride on one of the neighboring dirt roads. My brother and sister lived for this kind of stuff as they got to ride in the back and let their hair whip in the wind. I enjoyed it too, but I didn’t want anyone to know that. I think I was around 12 and maybe hormones played a part; maybe I was just a brat.

We would all pile into the truck with me finagling a way to ride in the front when I could. Many times I got my way since my brother and sister actually wanted to be in the back. Our first stop would be at Mrs. Watson’s general store about a mile (if that) from our house. One of the highlights of stopping here was talking to Mrs. Watson’s mina bird, Sam. The other highlight was the candy.

Dad would get his beverage of choice and we always got to pick our favorite candy. Mom would always tell us we were silly if we got anything other than chocolate (her favorite). My sister would usually get chocolate too, but my brother and I often ended up with wax candy bottles filled with juice, gobstoppers, or Laffy taffy. My sister says we always wanted what she had, but I don’t remember this. I will have to take her word for it. Often, we would all get Astro Pops. Remember those? I learned an interesting fact about them today. They were created by Rocket Scientists working on the space program in El Segundo, CA who decided to quit their jobs at Rocketdyne and create the Astro Pop®, modeling the pop after a three-stage rocket. They were very pointed and had wax around the bottom. We used these to poke each other after we licked the tips until they were even sharper than they came. We had to be very discreet about our pokes.

After talking to whoever we might have encountered there, we were off for our backroads drive. Dad would crank up his country tunes and make me sing along and we would see our share of wild animals and a beautiful sunset. My husband and I take the same drive sometimes and I now understand why it was so relaxing to my parents.

The part of this memory that brings me pain is my hatefulness about the old truck. I remember one time in particular that I really did not want to go on one of these outings; I wanted to be left behind at home. I made up every reason in the world, but my dad finally discerned that I was embarrassed to be seen in the old truck. He was absolutely correct, even though I denied it vehemently. I remember the look on his face when that realization set in that his eldest daughter didn’t want to be discovered in the old green truck by one of her friends. I don’t remember the outcome on that day, but I am 99% sure, knowing my dad, that my high-and-mighty little backside was parked in the back of the truck with the rest of the family.

When I look back, my despicable behavior was rooted in pride; the same pride that caused me not to want to be seen at church in yard shoes. Looking back, of course it was incredibly silly as I know none of my friends would have thought any less of me and probably would have loved to be doing the same thing with their family.

Surely I am not the only one who had these types of struggles and I am thankful that I have learned from them by the help and grace of God. I try to be transparent here in hopes that perhaps something I say may resonate with someone or spur a conscience. It is a great truth that if we can learn from our mistakes, there is potential for growth in our character. The lessons we learn can be considered a gift that keeps on giving.

Filed Under: Family and Home, Inspirational, Uncategorized Tagged With: God, Home, Parenting, pride, selfishness

The yard shoes go to church

December 13, 2015 2 Comments

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Last Wednesday night, I was extremely tired. It was that kind of tired where all I could think about was snuggling in my comfy bed and watching nothing but the back of my eyelids for several hours. Pushing myself through it, I got ready for church, decided what shoes to wear, and put them near the front door so they would be waiting for me as I dashed out the door. I had on a top in browns, green and tan with blue jeans, so I picked cute tan sandals with a large tan rosette-looking decoration on top.

Since I was now ready, I sat down at my computer to try to write a little before I left for church. Several minutes later I looked at the clock and realized I needed to leave immediately, or risk being late. Late is something I do not like to be so I jumped up, grabbed my bag, slipped shoes on and in seconds, I was on my way. The parking lot was crowded, so I parked in back, in a darkened area and walked towards the front door. Just as I was crossing the threshold, I glanced down and was horrified to find that I had mistakenly slipped on my nasty yard shoes. They are lovely grey and pink croc flip flops that have seen their better days. They are several years old and adorned with paint splatter. I was so embarrassed. I expressed my distress to my friend, who was greeting folks at the front door and he said, “No one will even notice”. This was the answer I would expect coming from a man’s perspective so it didn’t allay my mortification in the least.

I made it to my seat without detection (I think). I stood there through praise and worship, hoping no one saw my feet, which admittedly is not what I should have been thinking about. When we sat down I did my best to hide them under my seat. As embarrassed as I was, I was also angry with myself that I was prideful enough to care so much about my mistake. The scripture came to me from Ephesians 6:15 about having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I smiled because of the ridiculousness of my worries and because it’s just like God to remind me of the important things.

As long as my spiritual feet are shod with the gospel of peace, which means that symbolically I have put on peace as part of my spiritual armor, I am armed with the peace that comes from the Good News.

My family got a good laugh when I got home and shared my blunder but throughout the week, I have been thinking about feet and my walk and how and where my walk should take me and how I prepare for that. So, it just goes to show that even in our silliness, we often find a lesson.